New moon on the horizon
by BlushingBelle
Summary: Ever wondered how Ginny and Luna met? I think it went something like this...


There was one more class of the day when Ginny hauled the potion room door open. She hated the place, almost as much as she hated Snape himself: it's lingering musty smell and how the walls where always cold, the lack of windows, the multitude of snakes. The ever-present dripping tap. A prickle of unease crawled up her spine each time she entered, and it would linger until she emerged from the schools underbelly. She wove around the noisy, cluttered desks until she reached her seat. But Doug Cavendish was sat in it.

"Colin?" Ginny spoke over Colin Creevey's laughter. He turned and the smile slid of his face.

"Oh, Sorry Ginny. Doug," Colin suddenly looked clammy in the glum light of the lanterns, his Adams apple bopping, "Doug just- He needed a different partner so..."

"I wasn't going to partner with Lovegood if i could help it, was I? They don't call her Looney for nothing; she's cracked." Doug sneered. Ginny jutted out her chin and with one last piercing look at the both of them she strutted off, making sure to knock Cavendish's bottle of scurvy-grass to the floor as she did so. Her heart was still pounding as she stopped next to Luna. She stuck out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Ginny." Luna was slow to react and Ginny was left to consider her own hand for a moment. It felt bizarre to be announcing herself like this to a girl she'd shared a class with for over two years. But they'd never really been introduced, and it was too late to put her hand back now, so she just let her hand dangle between them.

"You're my neighbour." Luna replied looking up. Her wide eyes dwarfed her face, but it was the mountains of blonde hair that Ginny was always most struck by, especially in this light. "Your brother bought me an ice cream once. With pink sherbet. Oh!" She cried, "A hand ward!" She gripped Ginny's hand in her own, but curled there fingers together, so there hands made a ball out of two fists. "What are you warding off? Blibbering humdingers? Dewdousers?"

"Um, Both. Can I be your potions partner?"

"Yes!" Luna beamed, "Can you still sense the dewdousers? Is that why you're not sitting down?"

"No, sorry-" Ginny tucked her skirt underneath her and slipped onto the stool.

"Discussions over." Snape emerged from the store cupboard, and the rest of the third years dove for their seats. Stillness fell and the room was filled with tense silence. The rest of the class passed under the same kind of quiet, Snape writing instructions on the board, then going back to sit at his desk. The noice was punctuated by the sounds of knives on chopping boards, the hiss of flames, the babbling of hot water and Luna's humming (which distinctly reminded Ginny of the ice cream van tune.)

Ginny focused on the bubbling cauldron in front of her- Stir left twice, right thrice, repeat. She tried to ignore the prickling bead of sweat forming on her upper lip as her 'Confusing Concoction' remained a soft lilac colour. Her eyes flicked from the clock, to the board, to her cauldron. It should have been a rich plum. She glanced around and could see a few students cutting up the lovage leaves ready for the next step.

"Luna, what-" Ginny took a sharp intake of breath. Luna's potion was simmering, a brilliant topaz blue. "What happened to yours!" Luna smiled down at her potion, spinning her ladle through it.

"Isn't it beautiful? This potion and the 'Confusing Concoction' both have the same ingredients but they making completely different things! One drop of your's and your brain gets muddled, one drop of mine and you only remember nice dreams- don't you think that's much better?"

"But we've only got 15 minutes of class left!" Ginny chocked out.

"Really?" Luna asked, slowly ladling the blue liquid into what looked like a jam jar. She vanished the rest, tucking the jar into her bag.

"Here, take half of mine. It's not perfect but, i think Snape will still pass it. If he comes over here we might have to bulk it up with something... But he won't notice once we've done the last step. Probably." Ginny looked up ladle already filled and in hand, checking to see if Snape was busy with his scrolls. Luna just stared at her, a new set of water already bubbling away.

"You don't have time to start again, Luna!"

"Do you want to be friends?" Luna spoke so quietly, her head cocked to one side, that the moment felt more intimate then Ginny thought the question alone should create. She swallowed hard.

"First, you've got to make it out of this classroom alive, so you better get started on that potion." Ginny jabbed at the fire under her own cauldron, and saw Luna turn back to their desk out of the corner of her eye.

She continued to watch as Luna's hands moved fluidly over her cauldron. Luna barely had to look as she added a flutter of leaves there, a drop of essence here, and Ginny lost track of time as she just followed the girls movements.

"You've over stirred that, you know."

"Oh."

"Only by a little. Here, add some of this." Luna stuck a vial of odd, grey bristles under Ginny's nose. Fluff was growing in spots across its inside, and Ginny thought they looked like spindly caterpillar legs. "Decomposed thyme."

"Um, why?"

"It'll reverse the last couple of steps."

"Er, Thanks... how much do i put in?"

"A pinch." Ginny uncorked it, the sound made a quite pop, barely noticeable under the table and with other whispered conversations starting across the room as the class drew to an end.

"A big pinch or a small pinch?" Ginny asked, and Luna stopped, grabbing a section herself.

"This much." She smiled, demonstrated and then dropped the loose needles back into the vial. Ginny grabbed a similar amount and sprinkled it into her potion. They sank beneath the light surface and the colour around them began to lose its pearly sheen.

"I think it's worked! What next?" Ginny grinned, taking a quick glance at Snape who was reaching the end of his marking stack.

"Try stirring it again, and then add the lovage. But don't stop between stirs."

Soon the last minutes of class came around and Ginny was happy to see her 'Confusing Concoction' was a deep purple colour, and thick as syrup, exactly how it should be. Luna's potion looked just the same and Ginny couldn't keep the smile off her face as she put her potion into her vial. A hush fell over the class and Ginny looked up to see Snape approaching with a quick stride.

"Luna." Ginny warned.

"Miss Weasley," Snape said his lip curling, "Miss Lovegood." Ginny looked at the table, at their potions. They were perfect. She was sure they were perfect.

"I see you deigned to follow the assignment today." Ginny's eyes widened and she held her breath.

"Your ingredients, please."

"Yes, Sir. I used Scurvy-grass, lovage-"

"I want to see them." Snape cut Luna off, placing his fingers on the edge of the table, lengthening each word.

"I used them up." Luna said, airily.

"All?"

"Yes."

"I see... and what, may i ask, is this?" He plucked a stray needle from the table. He placed it to his nose and Ginny felt a little shiver of glee, watching Snape inhale a great whiff of mould. But the nervous squirming in her stomach got stronger.

"Thyme?"

"De-composed Thyme." Luna corrected him and Ginny cringed.

"And you took it upon yourself to use this today?"

"No," Ginny sighed, stepping into no mans land. "I did."

"To what purpose." Snape turned but his eyes lingered on Luna.

"I over stirred it, so i added some-"

"You added some Thyme to try to hide your mistake." Snape sneered before glancing at Luna. Tapping his wand he vanished the potion from both Ginny's cauldron and then the filled vial. "That will be a T, Miss Weasley." He called the rest of the class to the front, and Ginny glared at his retreating figure. Luna was crumpled on her stool, the corner of her lips pulled down.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Snape's just an arse. I thought it was a great trick." She gave Luna a nudge, and a small smile returned to her face. Luna got up to join the queue with her vial.

Finally Snape let the class go, and the two dozen students surged for the door. The noise returned in the corridor; there was happy chatter now that the day was through. Ginny walked fast to reach the stairs, and Luna stepped in time, the normal bounce returning to her step the further she got from her peers.

"Really though," Ginny continued, "I'm definitely going to use that Thyme trick in my exam."

"I think i'm going to eat. I really want a jam tart... or maybe eggs."

"From the kitchens, you mean?"

"Yes." Luna answered as they reached the top of the stairs and entered into the golden glow of sunshine.

"Really! Where?"

* * *

**Hello, thank you for reading! If you want to read more of my take on what Ginny was up to in her third year check out my story 'the third champion' where we follow Ginny, Hermione and Cedric behind the scenes. If you've come from that story hi *waves* this is the conversation that Hermione interrupts in chapter seven; Wherefore art thou S.P.E.W. **

**For now this is going to stay as a one shot, but follow if you want more Luna!**

**Blushingbelle**


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